Category: Information

Armed kidnappers in Nigeria have released 28 of the more than 120 students who were abducted at the beginning of July from the Bethel Baptist High School in the northern town of Damishi.

Church officials returned those children to their parents at the school on Sunday. But the Rev. Israel Akanji, president of the Baptist Convention, said more than 80 other children are still being held by the gunmen.

So far 34 children kidnapped from the school on July 5 have either been released or have escaped from the custody of the gunmen. It is unclear when the other children will be released. The gunmen have reportedly demanded 500,000 Naira (about $1,200) for each student.

Akanji said the church did not pay any ransoms because it is opposed to paying criminals, but he added the church was unable to stop the children’s families from taking any actions they deem fit to secure their release.

A spokesman for the Nigerian Police, Mohammed Jalige, said security forces and civilian defense forces were on a routine rescue patrol July 12 around the forests near the village of Tsohon Gaya when they found three exhausted kidnapped victims roaming in the bush. Two other students escaped on July 20 when they were ordered to fetch firewood from a nearby forest. Jalige said they were undergoing medical examinations.

Gunman called bandits have carried out a spate of mass abductions from schools in northern Nigeria this year, mainly seeking ransoms.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, who won election on hopes that he would tackle Nigeria’s security challenges, has not been able to do much in addressing the growing cases of mass abductions from Nigerian schools.

Source: Voice of America

SALIMA, MALAWI – Adifu Maulana quit school in 2014 to escape punishment she often received for arriving late.

She had to walk 7 kilometers to attend classes held under a tree because of Malawi’s shortage of classrooms.

But thanks to what is being called the world’s first 3D-printed school, constructed by joint-venture group 14Trees, Maulana has resumed learning. The Swiss-British group says the fast construction of computer-built schools could help alleviate a shortage of classrooms in countries like Malawi.

Maulana said she is happy because she can realize her dreams of becoming a teacher. The school is near now, she said, so she won’t arrive late at school, and her lessons are going smoothly.

The aid project 14Trees is a joint venture between Swiss cement maker LafargeHolcim and the United Kingdom’s development finance institution, the CDC Group.

The project aims to quickly construct affordable housing and schools in African countries like Malawi, which has a shortfall of 36,000 classrooms according to the U.N. Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

“Our estimate is that with conventional construction methods, it would take more than 70 years to build so many classrooms,” said Francois Perrot, managing director for 14Trees. “And we think that 3D printing can bring a lot of speed to the construction process and reduce time needed to build those schools to 10 years or even less.”

The 3D printing technology allowed the Malawi school to be built in just 18 hours; Perrot said building by hand would have taken about three weeks.

“The other advantage is that you can reduce drastically the quantity of the material that you need when you print,” Perrot said. “And this has an effect on affordability; meaning that the building becomes more affordable and also [carbon emission] is reduced, which in Malawi is up to 70% that is emitted per building.”

But even though 3D printing could transform construction around the world, its high cost is a challenge.

While the school cost about 15% less to print than to build, the 3D printing machine costs about $500,000.

“Now the other thing that we want to consider at this point will be: if this is a welcome development, who will own the 3D printing machine?” said Khumbo Chirwa, a representative of the Malawi Institute of Architects. “Will it be the local contractor, or the government will buy it and then start printing all these classrooms all over the place? Maybe that’s the discussion for another day.”

But the project implementers say costs will go down as materials begin to be locally produced.

Meanwhile, 14Trees plans to continue demonstrating the power of the technology by printing more schools and houses in Malawi as well as in Kenya and Zimbabwe.

Source: Voice of America

Asmara Teachers Training College has graduated today, 8 July 248 students including 66 females in postgraduate diploma, first degree, and diploma.

Speaking at the graduation ceremony, Dr. Yonas Mesfun, Dean of the College, said that 15 students graduated in Educational Administration, 32 in Educational Psychology, 42 in Social Science Education, 25 in Language Education, 17 in Mathematics Education, 17 in Biology Education, 26 in Chemistry Education, 8 in Physics Education, 65 in Science Education and one in Physical Education.

Indicating that the college since 2018 has been focused on providing postgraduate programs, Dr. Yonas said that as a result, it has been contributing to promoting the capacity and quality of teachers.

Dr. Yonas also called on the graduates to play due part in the development of the teaching-learning process with the knowledge and skill they have gained during their stay in the college.

Pointing out that the teaching profession is the foundation of all skills and knowledge, the graduates expressed conviction to live up to expectations.

Asmara Teachers Training College has been part of Mai-Nefhi Institute of Technology and has moved to its present location in 2018 and so far has graduated about 800 students.

Source: Ministry of Information Eritrea

Nigerian authorities in northwest Kaduna state have closed 13 schools after more than 140 students were kidnapped Monday from a Baptist high school. The closures follow a string of armed attacks on schools that authorities say threaten to permanently damage Nigerian children’s education.

Kaduna State Schools Quality Assurance Authority officials say a risk assessment shows the 13 schools are the most vulnerable to attacks.

The attack on Bethel Baptist High school Monday is the latest in a spate of school kidnappings for ransom and the fourth such mass kidnapping in the state in five months.

Kaduna authorities said 26 people, including a woman teacher, have been rescued and that troops are searching for missing kidnap victims.

But a local clergyman said an initial verification showed only 20 out of 180 students boarding at the school before the attack had been accounted for.

Amnesty International’s Seun Bakare says attacks and school closures signal severe threats to education in Nigeria.

“We risk the loss of a generation if these attacks on schools and attacks on education continue,” Bakare said. “It is so shameful that on one hand, bandits and Boko Haram are attacking children and their right to education, on the other hand, the government’s only response is to shutdown schools. The government’s response is also an attack on education and this is completely unacceptable”

The recent wave of kidnappings continues to worsen the education crisis in Nigeria’s north, a region known for low levels of literacy and enrollment, and accounting for more than 70 percent of Nigeria’s school dropouts.

Despite the government’s pledge to secure the schools, critics say it is either unwilling or unable to fix the problem.

“We don’t want the government to make a mere pronouncement that they’re on top of the situation, we want the government to take responsibility, we want the government to take actions that will abort such occurrences,” said Emmanuel Hwande, a spokesperson at Nigerian Union of Teachers, NUT.

On Sunday, gunmen also attacked a National Tuberculosis and Leprosy center and abducted eight people, including an infant.

The U.N. children’s agency, UNICEF, says 2.8 million children in the northeast need education emergency support due to violence in the region.

Unless addressed, experts say many more children will be risking a bleak future.

Source: Voice of America

The Ministry of Education reported that High School Students’ Summer Greening Campaign will be conducted nationwide from 7 July to 15 August.

According to a report from the office of the Ministry, the campaign will be conducted in 39 sub-zones from 100 centers and 24 thousand students including 42% female students as well as about one thousand supervisors will take part.

Mr. Fitwi Woldegergis, head of the Students’ Summer Greening Campaign at the Ministry of Education, said that the program will include planting tree seedlings, construction, and renovation of terraces and water diversion schemes, renovation of roads among others.

Mr. Fitwi went on to say that the objective of the campaign that was launched in 1994 was to ensure the participation of high school students and teachers in redressing the environment, creating a conducive environment of cooperation as well as inculcating the culture of work among the students.

Mr. Fitwi also called on parents, agricultural experts, health practitioners, teachers as well as administrations and stakeholders to underpin participation for the success of the campaign.

He also called on all participants for strict observation of the guidelines issued to control the COVID-19 pandemic.

Source: Ministry of Information Eritrea

Armed kidnappers have taken 140 students from their boarding school in northwestern Nigeria, local officials announced Monday.

Attackers opened fire on the Bethel Baptist High School in Kaduna state early Monday, abducting most of the 165 pupils boarding there overnight.

Teachers at the school told reporters they don’t know where the students were taken.

Police in Kaduna state said they have rescued 26 people, including one teacher.

Monday’s abduction is one of many recent kidnappings, usually for ransom, that have hit schools in northern Nigeria.

Late last month, gunmen attacked a school in the northwest state of Kebbi, abducting at least 80 students and teachers.

Amnesty International reports about 600 schools in northern Nigeria have closed as a result of persistent attacks since late last year.

Earlier this year, the government promised more security deployment to schools. But teachers and activists in the country say their schools remain poorly protected.

Nigerian authorities have faced increased criticism over the kidnappings, one of the country’s many security challenges including the Boko Haram insurgency in the northeast, and a growing separatist movement in the southeast.

Source: Voice of America